A similar line-up to the team which beat Man U was chosen to engineer our fightback. The only changes being Cech in goal and Mustafi for the ineligible Papa.

First Half

What a magnificent start to the first half – Ainsley finding Aaron Ramsey in the perfect position in the area to swivel and feed Auba for a goal poacher’s tap in. These are easy and straightforward if you have the instinct to be there in the first place.

Things went from peachy to orgasmic with the second goal after a quarter of an hour. Wardrobe knew he was offside from the dinked ball through, leaving Auba to stand up a tempting cross Brady-style to the far post and who should be there to nod it into the net – only our Conservative candidate for Lower Holloway. Ainsley was ecstatic and from that moment on you could see him visibly grow in confidence.

Rennes struggled to put many passes together and their game was again characterised by play-acting and blatant attempts to con the ref into issuing cards. Well, it had worked once in France.

Rambo had another fine chance from Laca laying the ball back but could only find the keeper when under pressure to get a shot off quickly.

After 4 minutes stoppages at the end of the half we found ourselves up on aggregate via away goals. No chance it could stay at 2-0, surely?

Second Half

The second period started with a near calamity with Mustafi getting caught wrong side. the ball hit the post and we could breathe again. Shkodran was generally pretty solid though tonight, so we can excuse him this one because it didn’t lead to us conceding and he did get back up on his feet and block the follow up shot from the rebound.

Rennes had a series of corners and a few vague sniffs at goal that tended to be snuffed out by the gloriously erect flag of the lino at the North Bank end. Why BT saw fit to keep showing play which was after the ball was dead, is anyone’s guess. Same reason they would employ Stuart Robson as co-commentator, no doubt – to wind us up, as there can’t be any other reason. His monotone banality is enough to drive any self-respecting fan into thinking any game is full of tedium.

Emery’s substitutions on 70 minutes were absolutely inspired. Mesut had been fairly lacklustre by his own very high standards and he was replaced by Micki. Laca had run his socks off and was on a yellow so, Iwobi made sense, too.

There was an immediate transformation. We suddenly had the ball and kept it purposefully in midfield. the passing interchange was swift and decisive resulting in a beautifully constructed goal of glorious simplicity. Wardrobe’s driven cross to Auba was like an express takeaway brought by Deliveroo. Superb, three goals to nil and a mask celebration to add a further minute to injury time.

We dominated the next 10 minutes and should have had a 4th and 5th with Auba missing a one on one and then fluffing his lines when he had the goal at his mercy with his left foot from Rambo’s wonderful pass.

Lucas Torreira came on for Rambo who was, once again, quite sublime. His tackling, positional sense and ability on the ball were just exceptional. Five extra minutes were seen out without too many scares and a well-deserved passage to the quarters secured.

Conclusion

Three goals and none conceded. There were virtually no Arsenal fans predicting a clean sheet.

The Rennes players’ attempts to recreate the Papa situation were pathetic in the extreme. I suppose their only chance of winning was to play against 10 men again. Luckily we didn’t have to endure too many close ups of the hideous Ben Arfa as he was barely in the game – so much for laughing at Unai Emery mate, he done you up like a kipper. Hahahaha.

Stuart MacFarlane

Loved the substitutions. they really secured the victory.

Ratings (perhaps slightly high but, heck, the fightback was glorious)

Cech – clean sheet – took a kick in the head – didn’t have too many clear cut saves to make as Rennes were offside so often …. 7

Maitland-Niles – his first half was superb and a goal to boot – great to see him grabbing his chance with both hands …. 8

Mustafi – the much-maligned Shkodran played well tonight apart from the one slip – well done that man …. 8

Xhaka – the odd misplaced pass amongst hundreds – he really does ooze class regardless of what the nay-sayers think – was he a single fulcrum or was a certain Welshman providing able backup in the double pivot? …. 9

Ramsey – another top top performance from Rambo with one assist (and could have had another if Auba hadn’t failed his Football proficiency test with his left foot) – again gets my MOTM with his tireless, selfless running, challenging and top quality with the ball at his feet …. 9

Ozil – not his most effective Arsenal game – seemed to lose possession easily without too much care on occasion …. 7

Aubameyang – 2 goals, 2 misses, 1 Bradyesque assist – an elite goalscorer’s lot, I suppose – will get most of the papers’ MOTM as goalscorer’s usually do …. 8

Lacazette – the man has grand couilles – unlucky to be booked for a great challenge – didn’t have too much joy in front of goal but worked like a Trojan …. 8

Subs

Iwobi – added ball retention and availability for a pass which had been lacking further forward … 8

Mkhitaryan – his quality on the ball was immediately apparent – helped to get us over the line …. 8

That third goal hurt. Before then I was convinced we would hammer Rennes at THOF. Now, I am not so sure.

And let’s be clear – we should win this tie. We have a budget of over 10 times Rennes. Lose and we have under performed but … what if we do lose tonight? Might it not be of benefit?

I have never subscribed to the belief that the Europa was there for the taking and that Arsenal would win easily. We are, at best, 3rd favourites with the bookies prediction for us to fall in the semi-finals, as we did last season. By going further, we MAY win it but we will have to play more games in an already packed run-in.

Forget the above nonsense, I am being a Doomer, must be Old Age. Let’s start again …

Tonight has the potential to be one of the highlights of the season. Score early and the Emirates will be rocking, driving the team onto European glory. We had but 10 men for the majority of the away fixture and when we had 11 we were in control, I expect the same tonight. Some clinical finishing, some thoughtful and considered defending and hard work in midfield should see our class tell.

No Sokratis which is a blow, otherwise the team picks itself. Mustafi to replace the Greek Bloke, AMN to continue his fine form unless Mhki is back. IMO, we play the same team which beat Man Utd. It worked. If Mkhi is fit, does Mr Emery play Ozil? And if he does, does he drop Ramsey?

Of course, Mr Emery could choose to play more defensive and go back to the Double Fulcrum, dropping one of the strikers and starting Torreira But I hope he doesn’t, the Single Fulcrum fitted so well to the personnel.

I am excited about this game and really wish I was able to attend. Those European nights under the floodlights with the Emirates rocking make unforgettable memories.

Our home record against Rennes is, of course, yet to take shape as we haven’t played them at THOF before. Let’s hope it is a glorious night tomorrow, remembered for all the right reasons this time around.

While our away game against Rennes was perhaps the highlight of their history, it was one of the low points of our season to date – so we should expect a lot more from Arsenal at home with our supporters willing us on.

Jon Sammels after scoring our second against Ajax in the 1970 Fairs Cup semi-final

The following is a match report that sums up our poor performance at Roazhon Park

Arsenal’s Europa League hopes suffered a serious setback after a 3-1 first-leg loss at Stade Rennes in round of 16 action on Thursday.

The Gunners took early control of the game at Roazhon Park when Alex Iwobi scored in the third minute, a curling cross-shot that bounced off the far post and into the net.

Matters turned sour after Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off for his second bookable offence in the 41st minute. Arsenal were doubly punished as Benjamin Bourigeaud’s equalised for the Ligue 1 hosts from the resulting free kick.

Rennes took the lead with Nacho Monreal’s own goal in the 65th minute and Ismaila Sarr’s spectacular header from a left-wing cross two minutes from full-time secured the French side a deserved win.

“The first 40 minutes I think we controlled, we scored and we didn’t concede good chances to them. But after this red card, it’s different,” Arsenal coach Unai Emery said in a post-match news conference. “Two yellow cards and it’s the referee’s decision. After, I think we must learn to play — when it’s coming like today — with one less player on the pitch.

“Not a good experience today, because we couldn’t do our work in difficult moments, in difficult minutes, with one less player, like we wanted. I think we can do better.”

Arsenal had never lost to French opposition away from home in 12 previous European games.

“I think the biggest disappointment is the third goal because at 2-1, you go home and you know that there’s a result where you’ve scored away at home and you can overcome it.,” Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Czech said. “We can still overcome a two-goal deficit because in the end the goal we scored might play a big part, but we made it a little bit harder for ourselves.”

Cech’s comment is a classic understatement, we certainly have the quality to overcome a two goal deficit at home but what Arsenal team will show up? From the March 7th loss to Rennes to the March 10th win against Manchester Untied we witnessed two totally different performances from basically the same players.

After the two yellow cards to Papa it seemed that the team sadly overestimated their ability to stay within comfortable touching distance for the second leg. To their credit Rennes, became an inspired team and were fully deserving of their historic victory. I was particularly impressed with the enthusiasm of their supporters – although throwing paper darts at our team went a bit too far.

Here is a look at Stade Rennais’ away performances in Europe, I must admit that I’m not positive that the list is 100% correct as I found many differing statistics.

After our incredible performance against Manchester United I cannot foresee anything other than us overcoming the 2 goal deficit and making the away goal work in our favour.

Update – Laca is available after his 3 match ban was reduced to 2 on appeal.

The team selection saw Ozil picked to play with Auba. Some have been suggesting this is a decent pairing, complementing each other, as do Rambo and Laca.

First Half

Iwobi got us off to the perfect start with his curler towards the far post which sneaked in past the unsuspecting keeper.

There seemed to be an awful lot of French players pretending that they’d been cracked on the head. Ben Arfa was the worst culprit, the disgusting little maggot.

Arsenal’s attacking play was very slack. Auba couldn’t trap a blind rabbit and Mesut didn’t seem to want to repay any of the manager’s faith in him.

We seemed to be lacking that link between Xhaka/Torreira and the front 4, a scenario we’ve seen several times already this season. Micki should be realising this and stepping into the breach but instead was fairly anonymous. Iwobi also seems a luxury away from home when his other three attacking partners are under-performing.

Having said that, both Torreira and Mustafi should both have done better with very respectable chances within the Rennes penalty area. We seemed to be in control on the whole, barring some sort of outside intervention. Cue the ref.

Sokratis had received his first yellow when the cheating Ben Arfa fell over him which was to prove costly 5 minutes from half time when the referee was conned by another French dive as Big Sok barely touched the onrushing striker who went down as if he been felled in the forest.

So, down to 10 men and made worse when the lad taking the resultant free kick hit a pearler as the ball bounced back to him off the wall. Cech had no chance as the ball flew past.

Second Half

Iwobi was subbed shortly after half time with Guendouzi coming on in his place. We really needed 3 or 4 additional subs at that moment but that’s not allowed.

Nothing stupid, lads, see if we can salvage a draw with a man down. Oh dear, what followed was a flashing near post finish from Nacho, while Auba was debating with the ref whether it was a corner or not, putting paid to any notion of salvaging parity.

Other chances followed but it did seem as though we might take a 2-1 defeat back to the Emirates and finish the job there. But then to be caught with so many men forward in the 88th minute though, was unforgivable. How stupid can a team collectively be?

Rennes deserved to win despite their transparent cheating, diving and all-round shit-housing. If I never see Ben Arfa’s piggy-like face again, I’ll be happy. Oh no, just remembered, he’ll be at the Emirates next week.

On this showing, we stand virtually nil chance of winning the tiddly winks cup let alone the Europa. Complacent, lazy, idiotic, gutless – all words which could be applied to our team’s performance in this first leg.

Originally the thought of 17 days without a game for the second half of March seemed a terrible prospect; now it doesn’t seem so bad. Then again, a decent result on Sunday might make me think differently.

Ratings

Cech – made some good saves – not much he could do about any of the goals … 7

Mustafi – persistently requiring treatment in the first half but none of his injuries forced him off … 5

Koscielny – as captain he leads by example – Arsenal required someone to scream at them in tonight’s game, lifting them up to perform at a higher level, didn’t happen … 6

Sokratis – unlucky to be sent off as the first yellow was soft and second was an obvious dive as far as I could see – Ben Arfa pleaded for the ref to send him off and then winked at Big Sok as the ref produced the red – it was almost as if it had been a deliberate tactic from Rennes … 6

Monreal – not his best game – didn’t have the legs or cover ahead of him to cope with the winger’s pace – great OG … 5

Xhaka – he’s ok if he’s looking at the game in front of him but on the turn he’s pretty redundant – some really sloppy passing when we needed sharpness … 5

Torreira – I still don’t understand why Emery wants him to play so far forward sometimes – miles out of position for the third, no idea why he would think that was sensible … 5

Guendouzi – where was he meant to be playing? – I’m not sure he knew – all over the place is probably the best description … 5

Ramsey – showed more spirit in 20 minutes than Mesut had shown in 70 … 6

Kolasinac – on for the ineffectual Aubameyang … 6

Ramsey started this counter attack as our most advanced player and was the player that was sprinting back to try and defend the back post. Don’t even know where Monreal and Kolasinac were.pic.twitter.com/Z5mPNTYoMh

Rennes: I know nothing about them. Does anyone apart from a French football enthusiast? Apart from Ben Arfa I know none of their players. Do you? Do you want to know? If so, look elsewhere as it’s a special day for Big Raddy and he is not in research mode.

Even GN5 struggled to pad out a post!

I could just write … We are playing Rennes in the Europa, they are in 10 place in La Ligue. We should beat them over two legs. End. It’s a wrap but having left clicked your mouse to AA you probably expect more.

Arsenal. We travel with as full a strength squad as possible. With a big game on the weekend I expect UE to rest a few chaps – Mhki, Kos etc.

The simple answer is, not a great deal considering the stage of the season. Having successfully dealt with our away game to the spuds and been a touch unlucky not to win, we seem to be really finding our stride.

Associated Press

Time to build some momentum for the final push. Oh look, there’s a chuffin international break in the last two weeks of March. Dennis save us from this madness.

Our fixtures in March continue this Thursday with the first leg of our Round of 16 Europa League tie in France, kick off 17.55pm. Rennes will have had just over a week’s rest before the tie thanks to some club-friendly scheduling by the Ligue Un authorities. Hopefully it will have had a contrary effect and left them slightly short of match sharpness, unlike our brave lads.

Lucas Torreira will be itching to play in both the away and home ties since his red against the spuds will see him sidelined in the League well into April.

Roazhon Park

Next Sunday we face Solskjaer’s mob at home in the last game of the weekend, kick off 16.30pm. The match will almost assume the status of 6 pointer. It’s essential we don’t lose, but hopefully home advantage will see us grab all six points. No silly goals conceded on the counter this season, lads, please.

Thursday week we welcome Stade Rennais FC back to The Home of Football. I’d imagine the tie will still be finely balanced with again (hopefully), home advantage allowing us to overcome them and progress to the quarters.

The following weekend to the Rennes home fixture, we were down to face Wolves at Molyneux but their participation in the FA Cup has led to this game being postponed and it is yet to be re-scheduled.

Therefore, because of the international break (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and clashing cup comps, we only have the 3 games to play in the whole of the rest of March. So much for building momentum!

In the next 11 days we’ll know if our Europa journey will be continuing and also the task left in the final 8 Prem games to reach a CL spot.

Then in the following 17 days we’ll have an Arsenal-less break. Baffling.